Bentley plan boosts education budget

Thursday

Feb 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM

MONTGOMERY | Alabama’s governor proposed state budgets Wednesday that provide raises to education workers, expand Alabama’s pre-kindergarten program and address complaints of sexual abuse at the state prison for women.

By Phillip RawlsThe Associated Press

MONTGOMERY | Alabama’s governor proposed state budgets Wednesday that provide raises to education workers, expand Alabama’s pre-kindergarten program and address complaints of sexual abuse at the state prison for women. Gov. Robert Bentley’s spending plans don’t provide a raise to state employees and require most agencies to get by next year on the same amount they are getting this year. That includes the Medicaid program, which is the largest appropriation in the state General Fund budget. Bentley’s proposed education budget would boost spending in the new fiscal year starting Oct. 1 by $277 million, or 5 percent, to $5.82 billion. His proposed General Fund budget for non-education programs would decrease spending nearly $5 million, or 0.2 percent, to $1.74 billion. “2014 is not good, but it is better than it was last year, especially on the education side,” the governor said. Bentley said Alabama’s economy has picked up, generating more income and sales taxes for education, which allowed him to offer public school teachers and school support workers the first raise of his administration. Traditionally, the Legislature gives a raise to state employees each time it gives an increase to education employees. But Bentley’s finance director, Marquita Davis, said taxes that flow into the General Fund have been flat, which made a raise impossible. The raise for teachers essentially makes up for a law the Legislature passed in 2011 that required both education workers and state employees to pay 2.5 percent more of their salaries toward their state pension. House budget committee Chairman Jay Love, R-Montgomery, said the Legislature would likely approve the governor’s pay raise recommendation after making sure the state will have the money to pay for the raise in future years. Bentley’s plan increases funding for pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds by $12.5 million, or 65 percent, to $31.6 million. Alabama’s pre-k program has been ranked as one of the country’s best, but one of the smallest. The program serves 3,900 students, or about 6 percent of Alabama’s 4-year-olds. The budget increase would allow 2,000 more students to enroll. Mike Luce, co-chair of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance’s Pre-K Task Force, called the increase “the first step in a multi-year effort to give all of Alabama’s 4-year-olds an opportunity to attend the nation’s best pre-K program.” The proposal drew praise from Democratic and Republican leaders in the Legislature, who predicted it will pass with ease. In the General Fund, Bentley recommended increasing the Department of Corrections appropriation by $20 million to $393 million to add 100 correctional officers throughout the prison system, cover increased health care costs for inmates and make renovations at Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, including adding security cameras. “This is part of making sure we are providing a secure environment for the protection of the inmates in the women’s prison,” the finance director said. A recent study by the National Institute of Corrections said prisoners have reported sexual abuse by male officers, and officials haven’t always treated those complaints in the proper manner. The report said the prison is dirty and overcrowded, and staffers aren’t trained well enough. The review found that inmates don’t trust the prison’s complaint system, and they claim prisoners are sometimes punished for complaining. The department studied the prison after a Montgomery-based group leveled complaints of rape, harassment and sexual assault last year. The Legislature has until mid-May to complete its work on the budgets, which will take effect Oct. 1.

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